On Seeing Birdman

For days, I couldn't seem to get the movie Birdman out of my head.  I went to see it Sunday with my aunt, and I've been thinking about it ever since.  I thought that maybe putting my thoughts in writing would finally allow me to put that movie behind me.  If you haven't seen Birdman, SPOILERS AHEAD.  You have been warned.

Birdman aspires to be a stinging critique of the current popularity of superhero movies and the actors who star in them.  It falls somewhat short of its goal, and descends into a mishmash of events, jumping from scene to scene with no transitions.  One moment, a character is smoking in a dressing room, and the next, he's preparing to go on stage.  Also, random musicians keep appearing and playing the movie's soundtrack for no apparent reason.

The movie follows Michael Keaton's character, Riggan Thompson, as he tries to resurrect his acting career through writing, directing, and starring in a Broadway play.  Riggan, as we learn, was the star of the Birdman superhero movies in the 1990s.  You learn that he made three of the movies, but turned down a fourth so as not to be typecast.  Regardless, he is followed around by his Birdman character who dispenses advice and criticism of Riggan's career choices.  Unsurprisingly, no one else can see Birdman, just Riggan.

The movie opens with Riggan's play in trouble, even before opening night.  His co-star has a stage light fall on his head in the middle of rehearsal, which Riggan believes he made happen.  It's never explained whether Riggan is responsible.  At various times during the movie, Riggan performs acts of telekinesis, moving glasses and other objects around with only his mind.  This power is never explained, and may just be part of Riggan's hallucinations.  The movie is not clear on this point.  Regardless, Riggan gets a popular Broadway actor to fill in for his injured co-star, who is played by Edward Norton.  Norton is perfect for the role, as the character is obsessive about his acting, self-centered, inconsiderate, and basically, a giant douchebag.

Various events occur, basically resulting in Riggan's complete and total mental breakdown, which culminates in Riggan shooting himself with an actual gun on stage on opening night.  I thought Riggan was trying to actually kill himself, but the movie doesn't bother to answer the question.  The movie ends on the oddest scene of a very odd movie, with Riggan climbing out of the window of his hospital room and disappearing.  When Emma Stone (who played Riggan's drug-addict daughter) walks into the room, she looks down at the ground in horror, and then up in the air with a beatific smile on her face.  I couldn't tell whether this meant that Riggan was lying on the ground or flying in the air, which was apparently an option because of the unexplained telekinesis.

All told, it was a very odd movie with plot contrivances that made no sense.  Furthermore, Birdman seemed like an ode to the Socratic method.  It posed a lot of questions to its audience, but gave few answers.  I was more certain of the bar exam than I was of what was going on in that movie.  The director anticipated the problems facing the movie, because he devotes an entire scene to having Riggan's character scream at a stage critic for her anticipated review of the play (The review was going to be bad.).

So yeah, I was not a fan.